That evening, the two were watching the clock. First infrequently, between game sessions, then more frequently as 6 PM approached. Finally, Scott #1 glanced at the clock and nodded, satisfied. "I think it's time. Or it's close to time. I'm tired of having a brother. I'd like to have a sister instead."
"I'm not your brother," said #2. "We're not different. We're the same person. We were all along, we just didn't look like the same person."
"Fine," said #1. "When we were the same person we played with ourself. Go ahead. Masturbate me."
"No way," said #2. "You first."
"I'm not going to," said #1. "So that proves...."
"No it doesn't!" replied #2. "Because if it does mean we're brothers, what about when we were girls and we kissed? Were we sisters then?"
"Why am I arguing with myself?" said #1.
#2 looked at the face identical to what he had seen every day in the mirror, and the nearly identical clothes they had picked. "I admit if someone were to see us in the street, we'd look like brothers. I guess we're close to being brothers but it's not exactly the same thing."
"Okay," said #1, "we may or may not be brothers, but we have to call ourselves brothers."
"Let me try something, brother," said #2. He suddenly stepped forward and gave #1 a big hug and kiss. Then the two identical boys both recoiled and grimaced. "Ew, that didn't work," said #2.
"What the fuck--?" responded #1.
"I was wondering if we could," said #2. "But it didn't work."
"Just for that," said #1, "you have to let me kiss you back."
"It's not going to work," said #2.
#1 shook his head. "It's not going to work for you. It'll work fine for me. Remember? 6 PM? The time runs out and you can change again? You have three choices: Blonde, brunette, or redhead. The blonde and the redhead we tried--maybe you can be the redhead this time. For the brunette, we need a piece of clothing."
"We never agreed on that," said #2.
"Scott, I never agreed on being the girl last time. And one of us has to be the girl when we go out. We can't go outside the house as the same person and there's nobody else to turn into unless you want to become Dad or Mom or take a risk on another piece of clothing."
"All right, Scott" said #2. "Like you I can't believe I'm arguing with myself. I know that people who always had brothers sometimes argue with them but I'm not sure they argue this much. Scott, you need to get along with your brother Scott. Take it from me, Scott."
"Very funny. If you're going to become a girl you can't call yourself Scott, anyway. Come on, let's go ask Mom."
"What? Oh. For something to transform us." He picked up the medallion and wrapped the chain around his right hand, taking care not to put his hand in the loop.
In the living room, their mother was watching a movie on the DVD player, along with their dad, still the redhaired girl. "Hi, Dad, hi, Mom," said #2. "Sorry about all of this but me and my brother really can make you 20 years younger. This'll be the best thing that every happened to everyone."
"I'll believe it when I see it," said the still somewhat unfamiliar woman's voice of their dad, still a female redhead.
"Believe it, Dad," said #2.
"So, Mom," said #1. "Scott here--that's my brother, not me--wants to borrow some piece of clothes of yours you haven't worn yet. Not to wear, to use with the medallion."
"The whole thing is questionable," said their mother, "but okay. I think I have some unopened pantyhose."
"What sizes?" asked #1. "Not that it has to be our size..."
"... but," continued #2, "I turn into a version of myself that fits the clothes. I don't want to become your age. You're our Mom, but I'm not our Mom."
"If that's all," she said, "it should be fine. Pantyhose don't come with age limits."
She pressed pause on the remote control, got up, and walked to the parental bedroom. The two versions of Scott followed behind. She found a pair of wrapped pantyhose and opened them. "Be careful," she said.
"I'm not going to wear them!" replied #2. He took the pantyhose in one hand, swung the medallion off of his other hand, then put it on his neck and touched the pantyhose. Then he looked down. "I think it's working. I can feel myself gradually moving, just a tiny bit. Like my legs are pulling me down." He handed the hose back to his mother and sat on the bed.
"I just made that bed!" said his mother. "Get off it!"
He got up and said "I have to do this somewhere. Mom, I'll be right in my room with my brother." He left, followed by #1.
The first thing that #2 did when he entered his room--now the room he shared with his brother, perhaps forever--was to sit down on the bed. He raised one leg onto his knee and looked at it. It was getting less hairy. "Looks like it's working," he said. "I just hope that nothing goes horribly wrong, like...."
"Like having the medallion come loose so you're a guy with girl legs?"
"Something like that, but I didn't want to tempt fate."
Nothing went horribly wrong, or really, wrong at all. A number of minutes later, Scott #1 was sitting on the bed next to a girl who looked exactly like him. She was a bit shorter, and she had breasts, and curves. Her face lacked even the remnants of facial hair and was soft and feminine, though her hair hadn't changed. She did in fact seem to be Scott's age, not college age like before and certainly not Mom age. "Dude, you're still me," said #1. "But I can't call you 'dude' any more. And those clothes don't fit."
"They're good enough," said the girl. "I can tighten my belt. I think the breasts need support but they wont kill me before I can get something. And the shoes are bad, but we have smaller pairs we used to wear when we were younger. Now what do we do? We still have to wait before we can change Dad back."
"Right," said Scott #1. "But first, I think we need a name for you. I have to call you something now that we're doing the brother and sister thing."
"We're still the same person," said #2.
"But we're referring to ourselves like we're separate people," said #1. "It feels awkward never using a name, like we did the other day when we were both girls. What do you want to be called, Scott?"
